Council votes to ban private wastewater treatment facilities

By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor

Strathmore town council took a proactive approach in embargoing private wastewater treatment facilities, when a vote in favour of the Private Wastewater Treatment Facility Prohibition Policy was passed unanimously on Oct. 17.
Administration had addressed council on Oct. 3 stating Policy 4204 seeks to prohibit the facilities from town while anticipating the new Wastewater Bylaw No. 18-10 – which is currently in draft form and nearly complete – will also prohibit these private facilities.
Understanding the associated risks, administration felt the policy was significant and brought the information back for approval on Oct. 17.
“I realize that this is probably a rather low-profile issue and is probably much less timely than other matters before council,” said Werner Fischer, director of planning and development with the Town of Strathmore. “But I believe it may very well be one of the most important documents that has ever been presented to this council, because I’ve seen what happens 10 years down the road when these facilities fall apart.”
According to Fischer, the town’s past and present research consultation colleagues agreed with his assessment that private wastewater treatment facilities are a significant potential risk.
Strathmore currently has land within its boundaries that is not developed and isn’t expected to be developed or serviced for decades. As a result, administration anticipates proposals may come forward to service the lands with separate and independent sewage disposal facilities.
While some mechanical systems can be very effective and efficient, are privately owned and no cost or liability is incurred to the town, administration is aware the proposals may be very appealing. However, risks through long-term use and necessary costs when the systems fail or become obsolete pose a problem.
“We have a lot of land within our municipal boundaries; some of it will not be developed for 20 to 30 years, or in service for 20 to 30 years,” Fischer told council on Oct. 3. “It could be a very attractive, a very compelling and very convincing argument to tell you that we’ll have a Turbojet 2000 (domestic) Sewage Treatment Plant, that will exceed every environmental specification as part of the town’s facility and we’ll run it through a private association or condominium association, and there’s no management plan, there’s no maintenance and parts are no longer made. And now you’re dealing with Alberta Environment, which is very unhappy.”
According to the town, private wastewater treatment facilities are regulated by the Activities Designation Regulation, administered by Alberta Environment and Parks, and designed to treat more than 25 m3 of wastewater per day. However, they may include other types of systems as outlined in the regulation.
The policy does not apply to private sewage disposal systems that are necessary to serve surrounding areas such as farmsteads and country residences.
Council approved Policy 4202 Private Wastewater Treatment Facility Prohibition Policy on Oct. 17.